During open heart and similar surgical procedures, several suction systems are often utilized at the operating table for withdrawing materials from the surgical area. For example, so-called "return" suction systems communicate with a blood saver device, such as a heart-lung machine in open heart surgical procedures, for retrieving blood shed during the surgery. Other suction systems are used to remove saline solutions in which the surgical area is bathed for cooling purposes, such suction systems communicating with a discharge location to discard the suctioned saline solution. The use of these two suction systems on the operating table during a surgical procedure often becomes cumbersome and confusing. Furthermore, the return suction systems are conventionally operated to provide continuous suction through the return system which serves to continuously draw ambient air from the operating room through the blood saver device, heart-lung machine or the like, thereby posing a risk of breaching the sterility thereof.
The present invention overcomes these problems of conventional suction systems by providing a self-contained two-way suction system providing both return suction and discard suction capabilities.